Katt: I have both anticipated and dreaded this day… Yes, my dear bloggees: Kemono no Souja Erin has come to an end. I’ve spent a good part of the day checking to see if the sub had been posted yet and am sorely disappointed that I’ve only gotten to watch it now, at midnight! Because of the combination of tiredness and a lil’ bit of alcohol in my system, I can’t be sure that I’ve experienced this finale to its fullest. But I’ll just continue on and pretend that I have, so play along with me, okay?

Honestly, I expected more of this. That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy it, because I definitely did! But…I guess I was expected more of an emotional impact? A little more struggle before the ‘happily ever after’ that I knew would come. Instead, things went a bit too smoothly in this series that has stood out for me as never taking the easy route.

The beginning…was not to my liking

The first half of the episode had such a foreign feeling to me. I’m sure it had something to do with the mix of a different style of graphics and new background music–there was an element of comfort in the consistent style and mood of this series that this spontaneous change threw me off in a bad way. I can understand wanting the final episode to stand out as being better than the rest, but I don’t think that it was approached in the right way.

Added to the more superficial level, the plot itself seemed a little weird to me. The approach of the cavalry was built up in the last episode, but I just found their decision to start shooting at Lilan completely, hm–how to put this?–moronic. There might have been a purpose in that (I mean, we obviously weren’t meant to understand where these goons were coming from), but really, they have a huuuge target to aim at and they still manage to hit Erin instead of Lilan. By no means am I saying that I wanted to see Lilan get hit; I am just saying that a little bit of logic behind the miss would have been nice. Even an, ‘oops, my finger slipped’ moment. Thanks to that ridiculousness, I didn’t have much of an emotional response to Erin getting hit. More of an, “Uh…what?” reaction at a moment where I should have been crying out, “Noooo!!”

Erin’s helpless action of removing the mute whistle was one that I should have loved, thanks to my fondness for symbolism in this series; instead, I was left a little confused by it. I couldn’t decide if Erin was doing it as a threat to Lilan, or as a message of freedom…or both? In retrospect I’m pretty sure that the ambiguity was the point. To Erin, it was probably a way of freeing herself from that shackle, but she intended for Lilan to perceive it as a threat so that she would fly away. And then when Lilan did fly away, it was…what? Two whole metres away? Here I was anticipating Lilan dropping Shunan off by Seimiya and then flying off into the wilderness, never to be seen again in the tragic parting of human and wild animal. Instead, it was rather anti-climactic. I was just not hugely keen on this beginning portion of the episode.

As it went on…it definitely got better

When the typical ‘something dramatic is about to happen’ BGM starting playing, I felt in my comfort zone again. The regular feel of this series was back and I was very, very pleased. The entire scene where the tohdas rise and swarm towards Erin, paralleled with Soyon’s demise, did its job in raising anxiety for both Erin’s literal impending death and her emotional instability when she finds herself in her mother’s execution situation.

Though unlike Soyon’s execution, Erin is saved before the tohdas reach her. Without even using the player’s technique as Soyon had resorted to doing to save Erin so many years ago, Lilan flies in rescues Erin of her own will. It took half of the episode to get there, but when Lilan flies down and gently picks Erin up in her mouth, I finally felt strongly moved. One of the most impacting moments for me was seeing how, even though Lilan was using her teeth to hold onto Erin, she was careful not to hold on too tightly or hurt Erin in any way. Remembering the two past events where Lilan has seriously bitten Erin, this scene is really touching. It wasn’t an easy road by any means, but at this instant the strength of Erin and Lilan’s bond has undoubtedly been proven, described by the characters as being like a mother and child.

As lovely as this pleasant moment is, I would have been annoyed if the happy ending had been reached already. After all, there is one more thing needed for this to be a typical Kemono no Souja Erin episode: Damiya ruining a good resolution! While his schemes are usually drawn out over a long period of time, there is hardly any time left here, which sadly makes this speedy scene not too dramatic. Damiya grabs knife, runs at Shunan and Seimiya, and Ial stabs him. And that’s the end of Damiya. After all of that manipulation, him suddenly being killed seemed too simple…though I’ll admited that I wanted to shout a, ”You go, Ial!!” when he actually stabbed Damiya. I was expecting him to just knock the knife out of his hands and seize him again–but no, he went in for the kill! A pleasant surprise, finally putting an end to everyone’s favourite creeper, Damiya.

The epilogue-ish ending…

Because just leaving it at Damiya being killed wouldn’t have been satisfying at all (and that isn’t sarcasm); this is the type of series that needs a ‘what happened to them?’ ending. As it turns out, everyone gets their ideal endings, pretty much. The only person who doesn’t really get any answers is Nugan, but I suppose we can just assume that he was scared straight when Lilan ate up his tohda.

There are a couple of hook-ups, namely the obvious Seimiya and Shunan marriage that we can all hope will be as ideal as it seems. And then it looks like Yuuyan got together with her Kazalm crush in the end, too! Kazalm itself can obviously return to its peaceful ways (and poor Tomura gets to spend his career stuck with a bunch of men), and even Erin’s hometown of Aka village will get the chance to improve with its new veteranarian, Kilik, who I’d expect would bring Erin’s ideals to the village. The spread of Erin’s ideals of freedom for the beasts can be seen in effect with the tohdas swimming freely and the beast-lords being kept by Erin and her family, instead of caged. On the note of Erin and her family…

We get to see Erin’s son, Jesse, who kind of made me giggle with his hilarious face, but…NO IAL?! Okay, this is not cool at all. WHY would they not show us who Erin’s husband/this kid’s father is? We KNOW Ial’s the daddy and YOU know it too–so show us a cute family scene! What’s wrong with you people?! Waaah, the fangirl in me is displeaaased!

…’kay now make the next two novels into a series too, okay? Because even if this final episode wasn’t as great as I expected, I did love it and I love this series as a whole. Undoubtedly one of my favourites, if not my new all-time favourite anime!

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 50: 8/10
Katt’s overall <3<3<3 for Kemono no Souja Erin: 10/10 (I WENT THERE!)

Katt: One episode left? ONE?! What a depressing thought… But I’ll suck it up and blog this and the next (last!) episode to the best of my abilities. I know I haven’t blogged it for the past couple of weeks, but I figured I could be forgiven because I had to write up that ‘underhyped anime’ post and, of course, chose Kemono no Souja Erin for my entry~ The series is reaching its climax as sunrise approaches and the tohda army is waiting to advance. Will Seimiya raise the blue flag? Will Erin fly above the scene with Lilan? Will Damiya get in the way?

The resolves of the good: Seimiya and Erin make their choices

When Shunan begins leading the tohda army towards Seimiya, Erin is giving the order to fly Lilan. Up until now she has remained silent whenever Damiya spoke of this inevitability, which he obviously took as her reluctant submission; however, now that the time has come when she can’t stay quiet any longer, Erin brings out the suicide knife. I don’t necessarily agree with her decision to kill herself rather than give in to Damiya. I think that there are other ways that she could have gone about it, but this choice suits Erin, especially since she made that shift when she became more like her mother, giving into the world that enforces unfair rules. She became very self-sacrificing, and suicide would be the literal self-sacrifice.

Though of course she can’t just go and kill herself with another episode left (not to mention two other novels), and as it turns out it is Nukku and Mokku who distract her long enough that one of Damiya’s fake Sezans gets the knife away from Erin. I am really curious: how did this go in the novel?? Since Nukku and Mokku aren’t characters in it, this scene obviously must have been dealt with differently.

This whole scene leads up to Seimiya finally manning up and doing what she wants: to raise the blue flag and marry Shunan, to join the two sides of the country together and aim for prosperity. Rejoice, Seimiya has finally developed common sense and a happy ending it on its way! But…

The bad hinder a happy ending: Damiya and Nugan interupt

…happy endings never come to easily in this series. While Damiya had seemed helpless once Ial restrained him and Erin raised the flag, it was really  just a farce. He had a plan all along, most likely anticipating that Seimiya would cave in and defy him. That creepy, devious bastard!

And he isn’t the only devious one around, too. I don’t know how this fact managed to go over my head, but it was the rival brother Nugan who has apparently been leading Damiya’s secret tohda army. When the brothers had their falling out episode, I admittedly wasn’t all that invested in it. I suppose that explains why I haven’t considered Nugan’s role in all of this, even after he returned at random last episode. My bad–he was actually there as Damiya’s back-up in case it was needed. And, go figure, it was needed and Erin is forced to witness bloodshed once again, only this time on a much larger scale. The wars that have been mentioned so much finally become a reality and people of different lives see it: the queen finally perceives this reality, Erin sees what becomes of the tohdas raised in her childhood village… It’s a massacre, and Shunan’s army is losing. The Grand Duke meets his end on the battlefield, and in one notable moment has his corpse trampled on in the panic. The insignificance of the Wajaku to Damiya has never been made clearer and it’s horrifying.

Now, Erin’s only choice is to take Lilan to the skies to save those who are remaining. While she wants Lilan to leave a free life, she can’t ignore all of the people who are being sacrificed for that…

Next episode has the conclusion of Erin’s decision to attack, and it looks like the final farewell between Erin and Lilan. Get the tissues ready, because I foresee a major tearjerker!

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 49 is…9/10
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 50…∞/10

Katt: If someone judged which anime series were popular solely based on how  much attention they get here at HSA!, there is no way that they’d think that Kemono no Souja Erin was underhyped thanks to the ridiculous amounts of praise I give it. Truth is, aside from a couple of other blogs that regard the series highly, I’m the only one out in the anime blog-verse who has been sticking by this series and singing its praises every step of the way.

What I’m getting at is that, when Minnie announced that our winter countdown would be our favourite underhyped anime series–what else could I possibly choose to rant on? Sit tight, blogees, because another installment of “Katt promoting Kemono no Souja Erin” is coming up! And this time it is more than an episode or a single character or a scene; this time, it’s the whole show.

Introduction to the Series

First of all, an introduction to the series is in order. I want to immediately disregard the standard synopsis for this series because–much like how Minnie felt that the synopses of Bokura Ga Ita didn’t do it justice–I feel that the summary you regularly find of this series is…bland, simple:

“A fantasy series written by Uehashi Nahoko (Seirei no Moribito) about a young woman who is drawn into a war between kingdoms. She has the ability to command certain animals as if she was playing a musical instrument.” (from MyAnimeList)

…Yeah. Far too bland and simple for a series so fascinating and complex. Not to mention inaccurate. Let me rewrite it to give you all a proper introduction to this anime:

Erin is raised in a tohda-rearing (dragon-like creatures) village on the military territory of the country. Through a series of events and fueled by her fascination with beasts, Erin grows up in the country’s royal territory and aims to become a veterinarian for beastlords (huge bird/wolf animals). Her unique way of raising the beastlords draws unwanted attention, and turns her simple goal of harmony into a tool of war, forcing her to become involved in the country’s internal conflict.

–Hard to sum up such a complicated series in a few lines, but there’s my attempt. Interested yet? Well, let’s keep going.

Background Info

Kemono no Souja Erin is based on the fantasy novel series, Kemono no Souja (The Beast Player), by Nahoko Uehashi. The series originally consisted of two novels, which the anime is based on; however, while the anime was airing this year, two more novels were released to wrap up the series. Unfortunately none of these novels are available in translation in English yet so I can’t compare the two, but it seems that many people who have read the novels have a great love for the anime as well.

The 50-episode long anime series that I adore so very much began airing in the Winter 2009 season. There wasn’t all too much attention drawn to this series when it started airing–it actually took a while for the subbers to get going, and then subbing stopped altogether a ways in and was eventually picked up again; as of now, Crunchyroll has the rights to subbing (much to my dismay). There are two episodes left before Kemono no Souja Erin ends so I might be jumping the gun a little by pushing this series as an overall amazing work, but honestly, even if the final episodes are horrible, this anime has already proven itself as worthy to me. Now I just need to justify why that is.

Deterring factors? Let’s get those out of the way.

There are a few things about Kemono no Souja Erin that deter people from watching it. Before I get into my reasoning as to why this series is amazing, I’m gonna make sure to eliminate these excuses not to watch it. That’s right. You will thus have no excuses not to watch it.

A lot of people have this thing where they will watch three or four episodes of a series and then judge whether it’s worth watching from there. I’ll admit that I do this, too, but it isn’t a fair judgment at all when it comes to a 50-episode long anime like Kemono no Souja Erin. On that note, I will tell everyone something important about this anime now: watch up until episode 7 and then judge whether or not it’s worth watching more of. Prior to that episode the series takes its sweet time going anywhere, comes off as a little simplistic sometimes–really, it’s anything but. Don’t give up before episode 7; the wait is worth it!

And then there is the unfortunate label of “children’s anime”. It’s an automatic turn-off for a lot of people because, well, after a certain age no one really wants to consider themselves a ‘child’ (and yet we still watch Disney movies with no shame at all…). Kemono no Souja Erin is not your typical kids’ series; in fact, it deserving that title is quite debateable. During Erin’s childhood years it might be more appealing to a younger audience, but as Erin matures, the series’ nature does as well. The plotline becomes more complicated, larger moral issues are raised, and the violence becomes very real instead of hidden behind abstractions. Yes, we still have a narrator clarifying events and flashbacks to remind us of things that happened not too long ago, but the tone of this series is undeniably something that appeals to a mature audience just as much as–if not more than–it appeals to a younger one. In fact, most of the fans I’ve seen around are at least in their 20s! I like how one reviewer on MAL referred to it: “all-ages”. An accurate label for Kemono no Souja Erin.

What’s to Love

Where can I even begin? Obviously everyone has very individual tastes when it comes to anime and so no anime can be for everyone, but, well, Kemono no Souja Erin can be for a lot of people. With elements of fantasy, political intrigues, a solid coming-of-age story, and relationships of all different kinds, there’s bound to be something of interest to you, dear reader. You don’t have to be completely enthralled with everything–just loving one element of this expansive story is enough to keep a person engaged.

 Character Relationships

To get my point across a little bit, I’m going to look at one of the elements that keeps me so emerged in this series: the relationships. While the story does sometimes diverge into other characters, the main focus is on Erin. This is so different from a lot of other fantasy series out there that have more of an RPG feel, where you meet a huge cast of characters and have to split time between them all; instead, in Kemono no Souja Erin we get to know Erin’s character first and foremost and come to understand other characters more clearly through her interactions with them. Each relationship she has with other characters is unique and shows a different side of Erin, so let’s look at a few of these different bonds…

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Soyon and Erin: mother-daughter– The first relationship that you really get to see in the series, and it’s sensible since Erin is only 10 years old when the series begins; of course her greatest attachment will be to her mother. Erin’s bond with her mother really brings out the curiosity typical in any kid, but that is especially abundant in Erin, and Soyon manages to feed that curiosity by sharing her knowledge of nature and the tohdas with Erin. The absence of a father figure brings these two even closer together such that imagining one existing without the other is upsetting to even think of.

John and Erin: adoptive parent/mentor– Tossed out into the larger world, Erin is left in the care of John quite early on in the series. He goes out of his way to help Erin through tough times, always managing to make her laugh and pull her out from emptiness. In time, he becomes her official caretaker and teacher and continues to develop Erin’s interest in nature as she grows into a teenager. While she doesn’t call John ‘Dad’, it is evident that through time and his constant caring, he becomes such to her.

Lilan and Erin: animal and human– An ambiguous relationship, as I’ve found whenever I try to express my thoughts on it in my entries. Everyone has a different idea of what kind of bond Erin and Lilan, the beastlord, have. Some would call it a very powerful friendship, others see Erin merely as Lilan’s caretaker, and then there’s me who likens it to the strong connection some people have with their pets. Until Nanoko Uehashi posts on one of my entries clarifying how this relationship is meant to be interpreted, I’d say that it is left to individuals to decide what the nature of Erin and Lilan’s love is.

Yuyan and Erin: best friends– Erin makes her first real female friend when she is 14 years old, which obviously comes as a quite a change for someone who has, for the most part, spent her life with adults and animals. Yuyan shows Erin how friends can be there during hard times and happy times, midnight chats and ‘girl talk’. While their relationship isn’t as fleshed out as some others, their years as roommates at school show another dimension of Erin’s character (and while I don’t mention Tomura in this post, he is another good example of a friendship Erin has).

Ial and Erin: budding romance– This thought may seem a little weird when you first meet Ial, but trust me, it works! This relationship does not take the spotlight in this series by any means, though it is there and merits moments of ‘aww’ when it’s occasionally placed at the forefront. The fact that the ‘romance’ in this series isn’t emphasized all that much and, when it is, is focused on these two characters coming to terms with their concerns and little spoken-of pasts shows what is most important in Erin’s life–and in Kemono no Souja Erin as a whole.

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 In addition to the plethora of relationship types seen in this series, the story as a whole is notable for its originality. I often say that this series is a breath of fresh air when all of the anime being released fits into some stereotype or another: standardized characters, predictable events, excessive humour or violence or romance… I won’t say that Kemono no Souja Erin is completely void of these things, but they appear in moderation. For the most part, the characters are unique and endearing; the major events tend to take you by surprise, things going bad or good when you expect them to go the other way; there are moments that make you laugh or cringe or swoon, and they are always included strategically so that you can make the most of them rather than become desensitized to their impact.

The artwork in this series is another original aspect of it. While it might not be on the highest caliber, it stands out without a doubt. The characters designs are easily identifiable, especially for the main cast. The backgrounds are all unique and beautiful, especially those depicting nature. And then the most distinct aspect of the art: the stylized images used to show history, animalistic violence, and at times characters’ haziness of mind. They are like an upgrade on ancient art, taking an older style with added details and tons of popping colours. It’s an added touch of originality to an already-matchless anime. The nature backgrounds that I mentioned are really stunning in two ways: visually, of course, and symbolically. The symbolism isn’t subtle at all; it’s always placed starkly next to the relationship or conflict that it is meant to reflect. In the first episode, for example, we repeatedly see a mother and baby bird whose actions reflect those of Soyon and Erin, and then a weasel appears at the same time as a tohda does in the storyline. It gets its point across bluntly, but manages to fit the mood of the series perfectly and reminds us of the importance of nature in Erin’s life.

And then what is probably the series’ strongest factor for me: the emotion that it manages to evoke. Through events that we can associate with from experiences in our lives and even those that are completely fantastical, Kemono no Souja Erin has the uncanny ability to manipulate the viewers’ emotions. Tragic moments really hit hard, unexpected twists can make your heart stop, and moments where everything works out are just so serene. Everything is just so well thought out that it is all the more effective. The background music in this series adds to effectiveness as well, notably in the calm scenes. There isn’t a huge amount of diversity in the music, but after so many episodes, hearing the same songs becomes a sort of comfort, especially the vocal inserts (Aoi Hoshi and Lalalila Lalila). The anime’s OP is also heard as a few different versions, coming up at dramatic moments and having a great effect. Sometimes the music influences the tone of a scenes, and at other times the scenes themselves are so powerful that a person’s reaction to the music can change. Whichever way that it goes, the emotions that Kemono no Souja Erin brings out in most of its viewers are incredible and, along with the other notable attributes I’ve mentioned, serve to make this an unforgettable series.

Don’t take my word for it…

Even if Kemono no Souja Erin is grossly underhyped, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anyone else out there giving it praise. If that were the case, well, then I wouldn’t be able to blame anyone for ignoring my constant pushing of this series because you’d think that I was just some crazy rambling lady with poor taste–but because it isn’t the case, you all have no excuse!

For instance, Kitsune is always emphasizing his fondness for this series at his blog, as is psgels at the Star-Crossed Anime Blog. While these are the only two consistent reviewers that I’ve seen around, that isn’t to say that other people out there in the internet haven’t taken notice of Kemono no Souja Erin’s greatness. Yumeka has an entry of the same nature of this one, promoting Kemono no Souja Erin as an underhyped and underrated series. Then there’s steelbound who shows that once you get to episode 7, love for this series blossoms, and Shinmaru wrote a great post on the much-debated “children’s anime” label. Even a writer at animenewsnetwork gives the series good regard for its first half–and to think that it only gets better from there! Just look at the variety in these bloggers who have all found enjoyment in this single series; it really has appeal to so many different kinds of people.

Wrapping things up:

If you have read up until this point, I’d like to think that you’re interested enough in what I’m saying about Kemono no Souja Erin to give the series a shot. I really can’t do it justice in a blog entry. It’s something that you need to experience first hand to understand why this series deserves much much muuuuch more love and attention than it gets. It doesn’t matter what stage of your life that you’re in; you’ll certainly find something to move you in this series. To watch Erin grow up, endure hardships, make life decisions and friendships and mistakes…these are things that we all experience brought to a fantasy stage, distanced from reality but still so easy to connect to. Ah, I sense some rambling starting up again. I’d better cut myself off and give my concluding thoughts in short:

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

That should make my point loud and clear.

I hope that everyone is enjoying our winter list of underhyped series so far. With the diverse tastes of all of the writers here, there is sure to be something to appeal to anyone. …of course, you really needn’t go any further because Kemono no Souja Erin is all that you need. In all seriousness, tomorrow is day #4 of our winter countdown, and it will be brought to you by our favourite harem leader Steve. <3 Will there be lolis involved in his favourite underhyped series? I’ll be disappointed if there aren’t!

Katt: Uh oh. I have something to confess… I think my sudden intrigue in the Erin/Ial pairing from a few episodes back has grown into a genuine love for it. Thanks to that, I’m going to have to use this Erin/Ial-centred episode as an opportunity to do a bit of fangirling. Sorry– I have to, or else I’ll explode from containing my inner fangirl-squeals. It’s a bad way to go. Aside from that, I just have to say: only four episodes left?! I’m getting depressed just thinking about this series ending!

So on to releasing my inner fangirl… Oh, and this means adapting a Minnie style of blogging just for this one time. Once this is out of my system, I promise that I won’t dedicate any more entire posts to Erin/Ial again…maybe…

Wounded and poisoned, Ial gathers up all of the energy that he has left and goes to the beastlords’ stable where he knows Erin will be. He has lost his ‘mother’ figure and has been betrayed by the people who gave him a new life when he was forced to leave his old one–Erin is the only person in the world that he has left. The poor guy!

Thankfully Erin can help: she’s a doctor! Well, a beastlord vet…but I guess that stitches come down to the same procedure for humans and beasts. Except humans have to be stripped to get stitches. I bet Erin doesn’t mind.

If Damiya were watching someone sleep, it would be creepy, but it’s okay because Erin is the one doing it so it just seems sweet. Ial is very vulnerable in his sleep, showing emotional reactions to his dreams that he’d never show if he were conscious.

Erin apparently finds this vulnerablility endearing, so she holds his hand to comfort him in his sleep. Big awwww~ In these two who have lost almost everyone dear to them, they only have each other to find comfort in. If Ial will only accept comfort in his sleep, then so be it! When he wakes up though, the frail part of him still shows when he tears up upon remembering Erin’s words from the last time that they met one-on-one. As someone who has been trained as a shield and not as a human being, Ial really needs Erin to bring back that human part of him.

Pretty much everything that Erin and Ial say to each other is incredibly endearing–albeit very typical. Which is fine by me because 1) romance is really just an aside in this series, and 2) being typical doesn’t stop it from making me go AWWW THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. Case and point: this “I will leave you to protect you!”/”No no, don’t leave scene!”

Kilik is a voyeeeeeur. He walks up, peeks into the stable with the intention of ambushing Ial, but then he sees them together and thinks that they are a damn fine couple and thus leaves them be. Makes perfect sense in my head. (Although I’d like the point out that he stands there for quite a long time, so maybe he was hoping to see a little something more. …yeah, I’m abusing the winking smilie a bit in this entry.)

“I have a favour to ask. Can you play the lyre for me? I want to hear the pure melodies that you create.”

The harp was the thing that brought this two together–what, seven or eight years ago? Back then it was Ial playing for Erin, but now it is her playing that has become a soothing factor for him. And she still has that same old (altered, mind you) harp that he left for her all those years back then.

Mandatory moment of ’awwww, they fell asleep on each other’s shoulers~~’ fangirling. I think I found it cuter when Ial fell asleep on Erin than when she fell asleep on him…is that weird?

But their sweet little moment can’t last, of course, because…..

CREEPER ALERT. Damiya follows the trail of Ial’s blood to the beastlord stables and finds Erin there. When he encounters her, he exposes a big secret about himself. Do you know what that is? It’s that he’s a closet Erin/Ial shipper! That’s why he asks Erin if she likes him (and in my head it’s asked in a, “Ooh, do you liiiike~ that man?” tone). He wants fodder for his canon pairing.

Yeesh, I knew that Erin would hide Ial in with the beastlords, but I didn’t know that she would hide him under Lilan! That is not a place that I would like to be.

Erin and Ial have an exchange of innermost thoughts. Erin admits that her biggest dream is to have the beastlords live free as they are meant to, and that she would willingly sacrifice herself in order to attain that. Unlike Kilik who freaks out when he finds that Erin might have the intention of killing herself, Ial processes it in a composed manner. Even if there is some kind of love developing between these two, Erin’s main passion is life is the freedom of the beastlords and Ial respects that.

And finally, we get the chance to hear Ial’s backstory straight from his mouth. None of these sporadic flashbacks or Damiya-gossip. He runs it all by Erin in the same manner that she did when she told him about where she grew up, her mother’s death, and all of those other secrets of her past that she kept quiet about. I loved the parallel between that past scene and this one.

“When I heard you play the lyre, Ial-san, I felt something warm. It felt like I was with my late mother.”

The jury’s still out on whether this is cute or creepy, though my bias is leaning towards cute. Erin likens the warmth and comfort that she felt hearing Ial’s harp-playing so many years ago to the presence of her mother. It’s kind of like Kilik looking at Erin and seeing his sister in her, and yet giving off hmm-I-might-like-her vibes. I don’t think that it’s meant to be taken as creepy, though, but instead as Erin finding the comfort of family in someone else. And really, when people become a couple or even very close friends, their bond is as close as that of family, right? It’s a wonderful thing that Erin could find that in someone else–and it would do Ial good, too, since he doesn’t have any family to speak of, either.

Ah, the stained solider… Once he’s seen death, been the cause of it, he can never return wholeheartedly to the ‘normal’ world. He clearly needs the affections of a fair maiden to help him settle down into the family life that he’s always dreamed of~

“Your life is like that of the tohdas. As eggs, they’re taken away from the mother. They were just bred to fight. They are such lonely beasts.”

This comparison between Ial and the tohdas is so very Erin that I can’t help but love it. Even though it’s a situation that we’ve seen a squillion times before–the soldier forced to abandon emotion, the woman who wants to break that cold barrier–Erin doesn’t reach into clichés to explain it. She reaches into her own experiences and compares Ial to her experiences in the field she’s passionate about. This is why Erin is my hero.

Mind you, Ial doesn’t seem to get it. I guess he isn’t as up on his tohda-raising knowledge as Erin is. He still sees fighting as the only way to go, the only way to help Erin reach Semiya and crush Damiya’s plans to raise a beastlord army. His words make it seem like he should be coming off as the knight in shining armour, but… 

“I will keep fighting with these hands that you protected. For the late Queen also. I will fight until the end!”
“That’s how you’ve lived your life. For the Majesty Shin-Oh. You’re really a person that cares for your family, but…the silent whistle that binds you is no longer there. Why? Why don’t you want to grab a hold of happiness with this? Your right hand?!”

Erin JUST SAID that he didn’t have to fight anymore. Damnit, Ial, LISTEN! Now you’ve made her use more veterenary metaphors.

At least he realizes that he didn’t say the right words and hugs it out instead of talking anymore. It’s the right course of action to comfort Erin and, more importantly, it gets a big AWWWWWWW and many <3s from me: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja episode 46: 9.5/10 (-0.5 because of a failure to react to the poison that is still kind of Ial’s body…antitode, please? Also Ial’s failure to notice Erin’s missing fingers. You two still have ways to go together.)
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 47: 9/10

Katt: Minnie is a terrible influence. Thanks to her, you’re all doomed to be bombarded by these ‘defining anime moments’ posts; hopefully they don’t get too redundant. With the diverse tastes of everyone here in the blog, though, I should think that they won’t. A few of mine are from recently aired episode, so I have my fingers crossed that I won’t look back on this in a few weeks and be like, “What the hell was I thinking? I barely remember that scene.” That’d be awkward. But I think that I’ll remember and love these scenes for a while yet, whether they make me cringe, cry, or laugh until I cry.

Oh, um…spoiler alert? You’ve been warned! (#10 and #1 are the only ones I’d call major spoilers, though.)

#10. X Episode 23 - The woman he’d give his life for

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After I started watching anime as anime (as opposed to just another Saturday morning cartoon), this was probably the first scene that really made me cry. It’s Sorata’s sacrifice to save Arashi from being killed by Fuma. Now, anyone who has watched X can tell you that deaths aren’t exactly a rarity in this series–in fact, a lot of people die. More people die than live, to put it into perspective. By the second-to-last episode, one would expect to be immune to it, but instead we are hit with the death that has been building up and building up since the very beginning when Sorata tells Arashi that she was “the woman [he] will give his life for”.

When I watch this scene now, it admittedly seems kind of bland, but it nonetheless had a great effect on me years ago so it deserves to be on this list. It isn’t so much Sorata getting stabbed that gets the waterworks going; it starts with Sorata’s drawn out ‘farewell’ and then Arashi’s devastation when he actually dies. A few different romances are introduced in this series, but this is the only one that manages to progress somewhere and it all ends up for nothing in this scene. And even without that romance, Sorata is built up as one of those genuine ‘nice guy’ characters, so of course this death is tragic. My point in this rambling is basically this: all of the development leading to this moment throughout the series–the foreshadowing of his sacrifice, the budding romance–comes to its peak in this scene and just slaps the viewer in the face. Hard. I could never forget a moment like this one.

#9. Umineko no Naku Koro Ni Episode 21 – Rosa freaks out…more than usual

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This probably seems silly of me. With all of Umineko’s gratuitous violence and frequent instances of Rosa abusing Maria, why would I pluck this scene out of the bunch? Put simply, it made me care. I did not give a crap about Maria before this most recent arc, and this scene really made me feel awful for her and actually fear for her. So what is it about this scene that made it so effective…?

Sound, here, is a huge factor: both seiyuu do an amazing job at either being terrified or terrifying. Rosa’s shrieking made me cringe and kind of made me feel helpless, as though I was the one on the receiving end of her freak-out. And as opposed to just slapping Maria around as she usually does (wow, did I write ‘just’? I sound like a horrible person), Rosa takes it to a more psychological level with her destruction of two of Maria’s toys, one of which is technically her best friend. This kind of torture just has such a greater impact than a literal slap and made me really say, for the first time, “Rosa is a major bitch.” More than that– more like, “Oh my God, what the hell?! Why is Rosa such a huge bitch/horrible mother?!?!” Sorry for hating you for all of your ‘uuu’ing, Maria. This scene made me take it back.

#7. Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 56 - Blood-covered bishie, oh my!

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If I harbour any sadistic fondness for bishies covered in blood, it is entiiiirely the fault of my #7 defining anime moment. And the fact that I have seen this episode far more times than is healthy, thanks to it being on the first Yu Yu Hakusho DVD that I bought. When Kurama loses the ability to stay in his Yoko Kurama body, he returns, exhausted, to his ‘human’ form. In a state of helplessness he is left to the mercy of his opponent, Karasu, who also has a fetish for bishies…and for hurting bishies. So what does he do? He creates a lot of bombs and sets them all off right next to Kurama.

While I of course feel bad for Kurama in this scene, it isn’t what you’d call emotional. It’s just excessive and was pretty overwhelming since this was one of the first ‘violent’ series that I watched. And this is one of my favourite characters getting hurt, here, so there’s no surprise that it’s left a lasting impression on me! It just makes a fangirl want to rush in and rescue him, but instead we’re forced to watch as this physical and psychological (why does Kurama always face the crazy ones?) torment is dragged on…until Kurama sics a bloodthirsty plant on Karasu and wins–but it’s the ruthless bombardment on Kurama that I remember most of all.

#6. Kemono no Souja Erin Episode 21 – Human-beast communication

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“Lilan tried to communicate something to me, but I didn’t know how to answer!” Naturally this line is strongest in context, but even on its own it makes my heart wrench. This series really makes a grand effort in some scenes, and you know that you’ll remember those scenes for a long time (take #8 on Minnie’s list, for instance), but somehow this brief moment in episode 21 left just as strong an impact on me than the major scenes in other episodes. In it, Erin makes an attempt to get Lilan, the injured baby beastlord that’s arrived at Kazalm, to start eating and taking care of itself. She manages to awake some sort of interest in Lilan by casting light beneath her, but when she starts talking to Erin, Erin doesn’t know how to respond and instead starts crying and says the line I quoted earlier.

The reason that this scene has become a defining moment to me is mostly thanks to my personal love for animals and thus ability to associate so strongly with Erin in this scene. Since I blog this series, I’ve already reflected on this scene, and will quote myself to explain: I know that I have caught myself asking an animal or two to speak in English, but unfortunately life doesn’t work that way. They speak their language and we have to rely on things other than speech to help them, particularly when they are suffering and we have to decide whether they want to be helped or not. “Please tell me how to help you. Do you want me to help you, or…?” It is so hard to deal with, having their fate in your hands. This hurts Erin so badly because she just wants to understand what it is that the beast-lord wants when she finally finds her voice.

Following that glimmer of hope when Lilan finds her voice, and then the fact that Erin actually starts crying while there are other people around too… ah, this scene is so perfect!

#6. Hanasakeru Seishounen Episode 11 – Machaty’s proposal

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Machaty, you are so epic! I’d say yes. Would you say yes? I’m pretty sure you would because this proposal is too epic to say no to. The scene– Machaty’s one-time lover Kathleen has slipped into the crowd waiting to watch the world leaders leave their meeting, with hopes to sneak a peek at the man she has had to part ways with. Machaty spots her and she tries to flee when he starts calling to her, but he catches up and dramatically removes his headdress, which, according to his religion, is only to be removed when admitting defeat or proposing to the woman he loves. And let me tell you, Machaty is not the type to admit defeat.

It’s kind of ironic that the most memorable scene to come out of this series (so far!) is from the prologue–or, as inserted into the anime, a flashback. I was tempted to cheat like Minnie did and include this scene in conjunction with the later moment of Rumaty performing a similar proposal, but really, it’s Machaty’s proposal that leaves the impact that makes this a defining moment in my anime-viewing experience. He did it first and he did it best!

#5. Eden of the East Episode 1 – Um, naked man?!

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I tried to use this scene as a selling point for this series, but unfortunately telling guys that there’s a naked man in the first episode doesn’t really make the series appealing. I guess you just have to see it to appreciate it, eh? In all seriousness, Eden of the East’s opener has to be the most hooking first episode of an anime that I have ever seen, greatly due to Akira’s amazing entrance. Saki is in trouble, getting scolded by the English-speaking police of Washington D.C., when Akira comes to her rescue– waving a gun around, completely naked, concerned for her well-being when he doesn’t even remember who the hell he is or why he’s in Washinton. (Oh, and the phallic Washington Monument is in the background at one moment…it just makes the scene all the more memorable.)

Do I really need to elaborate on why this is a defining moment? It raises the bar for the image of a ‘knight in shining armour’–now, the perfect hero is a total stranger in his birthday suit! Ideally with no memory and nothing more than a fancy cell phone and a hand gun in his possession, but I won’t be picky.

#4. BECK Mongolian Chop Squad Episode 5 - Skinny dipping duet

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Most BECK fans would say that “Moon on the Water” is their favourite song from the series (mine’s “Slip Out”–but shh!), and there’s no doubt that that is because of this unforgettable scene. A little bet leads to Koyuki and Maho sneaking into the school pool, where Maho strips down and jumps in. She starts singing “Moon on the Water”, a song by their favourite band Dying Breed, and Koyuki is moved to join in the skinny dipping. Maho continues singing the song, and when the chorus comes around, Koyuki joins in and they sing together in a moment that is just…pure <3, for lack of coherency.

It’s honestly such a simple scene. There are more shots seen of the moon, its reflection on the water, and the swaying grass than on Maho and Koyuki themselves; and when they are shown, they’re just neck-deep in the water, singing. Yet somehow, it doesn’t feel stretched out, it’s doesn’t get boring–in fact, you kind of hate Saito for showing up and distrupting the moment. It could go on forever, and this is coming from someone who gets bored of slice-of-life series if they don’t go anywhere. This serenade…nothing happens, but so much happens. That is why it’s my #4 defining moment and, no question, the most defining moment of BECK.

#3. Vampire Knight Episode 6 - This? This is why vampires are sexy.

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When I was coming up with this list, I was running through the series I’ve watched and thinking of their most memorable moments. I thought of Vampire Knight and went, “Nah, there’s nothing really notable in it…” And then I remembered this scene and backtracked. When Octavia and I went to see New Moon last week, we spent the time before the movie talking about different depictions of vampires and ended up gushing over how hot this Vampire Knight scene is for, like, ten minutes. I think that that makes it the defining moment of oh-my-god-sexy in anime for me.

The vampire bite in itself is pretty damn appealing, but there are plenty of those in this series–and other vampire series for that matter–so what makes this specific one stand out? Prior to this moment, Zero biting Yuuki has been done out of uncontrollable bloodlust; here, Yuuki is offering herself to Zero. Sound inappropriate yet? Let’s get a bit more specific… Yuuki leads Zero into his shower and tells him to freely drink her blood. To make her point clear, she strips (and yes, it looks as suggestive as I’m making it sound) her blazer off, exposes her neck to him, and presses him against the shower wall and urges him to bite her. He gives into the temptation and it is the best thing everrr.

The forbidden nature of this scene, the fact that it comes off as Yuuki holding power over Zero even though he’s the ‘predator’, the way he apologizes and the way that she holds him as he gives in… it all cumulates into one hot and memorable scene. Sorry that I ever doubted your ability to produce defining moments, Vampire Knight.

#2. Pokémon Episode 39 – Pikachu’s Goodbye

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Don’t you dare laugh at me!! Yes, I cried watching this episode as a kid, and that is because I have a soul! I remember I was at a friend’s house one time and this episode was on, and I thought, “Oh no! I can’t let myself cry!” I felt so accomplished when I didn’t.

For anyone who didn’t have a childhood, in this episode Ash and friends come across a group of wild Pikachus. Ash’s Pikachu gets along with them so well that Ash very reluctantly decides that it would be best if he left Pikachu there to live with his wild bretheren. This scene that I’ve chosen as my #2 defining moment is when, after flashbacking to all of the good times, Ash halts and turns around to see Pikachu appear majestically over the top of a hill. He runs down and jumps into Ash’s arms, making it clear that he’d rather stay with his trainer than live in the wilderness with others of his kind.

Definitely a far less realistic take on the human-beast bond than the Kemono no Souja Erin scene that I looked at earlier, but still amazing to have stuck out in my memory for so many years. I know that this is the case for a lot of other people who watched Pokémon in their youth, too, which certainly makes a big statement about this scene. It’s melodramatic, cheesy, cliché, but come on–all moments reinforcing Ash and Pikachu’s bond are, and that doesn’t make them any less moving! And it doesn’t prevent this scene from being a defining anime moment for me and many many others out there.

#1. Kemono no Souja Erin Episode 43 - Erin uses the mute whistle

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While my #2 was an optimistic scene, my #1 is more of the devastating nature. At my first Kemono no Souja Erin scene, I mentioned that this series puts a grand effort into some scenes–this is one of those moments in which they go all-out to leave a huge impact on the viewer. Lilan is about to be taken by messengers sent from the queen, and she becomes enraged and aggressive towards them. Erin pleads that they don’t use the mute whistle, certain that she can soothe Lilan as she always does, but Lilan attacks the messengers and leaves them bloodied and half-dead. In a moment of panic, Erin reaches for the mute whistle. Instead of actually showing Erin blowing it, we see flashbacks to happy memories of Erin and Lilan together, and then there is a shot of Erin bewildered, with the mute whistle loose in her mouth, and then Lilan knocked out with blood stains around her mouth.

This scene, for so many reasons, deserves to be my #1 defining anime moment. While it was only aired a couple of weeks ago, no anime scene has ever hit me as hard as this one did. It’s executed in the fragmented style that Kemono no Souja Erin’s violent scenes tend to be shown in, but it doesn’t hide the violence behind the regular stylized illustrations. We see the men being held between Lilan’s teeth, we see the injuries they’ve sustained; the thing that gets hidden is Erin’s action, the blowing of the mute whistle. The images of Erin raising Lilan are there to remind us that this is the one thing that Erin never wanted to do, and yet she’s had to resort to it. The scene flawlessly conveys everything that it wanted to.

It’s a little funny, thinking of my number one moment next to Minnie’s. Her last paragraph about the Bokura Ga Ita scene could very well be my ending paragraph for this Kemono no Souja Erin scene, with a few changed names and put into my words: I have never sympathized with a character as much as I do Erin. When she has to break her vow to herself and to Lilan in this scene, I ache for her and for Lilan. No other scene has made me cry so much and yet I can’t help but want to watch it over and over because of how strong the emotions it evokes are. So perfect. …Minnie, are we masochists to love these depressing scenes, or what?

Katt: As I watch all of the anime I’m dedicated to that have subs released on Sundays, it’s just so obvious which ones I need to give blogging priority to. (‘kay admittedly I’ve only watched this and Hanasakeru Seishounen so far, but shh!) This week, the plot of Kemono no Souja Erin is really coming together quickly. Our villain has been revealed (as if we didn’t know already) and the team of allies to Erin is becoming clear. Oh, and Damiya is a bigger creeper than ever. A-Anyway, I’m going to look at the three main players in this episode and how I expect them to act from here on out.

Our villain: Damiya

In case you didn’t notice, I titled this entry ‘Damiya takes ‘creeper’ to a new level’. Sure, this statement could have been made a long while ago when he showed overall suspicious behaviour, or when it got more specific with his meeting with Kilik, or just last episode when he locked the door when he and Erin were alone together–but the creeper alert really went off this episode when he and Semiya got engaged. Whuuut? I saw this coming when he initiated the marriage conversation with Semiya after the past queen died, though that still doesn’t make it any less creepy. Seriously, dude! You’re such a creeper!

On top of this, Damiya has really messed up ideals. While characters like Shunan are working to found a logical order for the country, Damiya is of the mindset that the world is fine and dandy as is, for this is the pure order of things. …Uh huh–assassinating the queen and attacking your countrymen and marrying a girl like thirty years your junior is totally pure.

…Yeah, Damiya somehow got the shortest section of this entry even though I mentioned him in the title. That just shows how overpowering his creeper vibes are.

Bad-to-good?: Kilik

Kilik has been one of those mystery characters since he was introduced, which is somewhat odd because we’ve seen into his mind quite a lot. There have been tons of fragmented flashbacks of his past and snippets of conversations with Damiya, from which I easily gathered that he was, of course, working for Damiya, but the childhood memories have always kind of eluded me. I’ve always gotten some facts like his sister was killed and he killed his ‘parents’ and something-something anti-Wajaku…now let me try to piece all of this together.

Kilik and his little sister, Taya, were raised by a Wajaku couple–the husband had apparently had some connection to Kilik’s biological father, who was a Ho-Lon aristocrat. While they seemed kind to take the two in, they were really in it to gain status; however, they eventually turned against the two because they were Ho-Lon people, which is where Taya’s death comes in. I’m not sure if we’ll ever really understand why they took such drastic measures to make their point or why they left Kilik alive, but it certainly explains his decision to poison his adoptive parents and dedicate himself to Damiya’s anti-Wajaku cause by becoming his assassin.

When it really comes down to it, though, Kilik is less about fighting the Wajaku and more about fighting whatever threatens purity (which, to him, Taya was the essence of). He sees a lot of Taya’s purity in Erin, as was shown when he imagined seeing Taya flying on Lilan’s back quite a few episodes ago–this is definitely leading him to become more sympathetic to Erin’s cause than to Damiya’s, and by this episode’s end we get the sense that he is ready to officially switch sides, thanks to a little guidance as to what living ‘purely’ is from our constant good guy, Ial.

Loyal boy-toy: Ial

With all of these questionable motives being thrown around, Ial is such a breath of fresh air. He is a good guy through and through, which unfortunately puts him in a difficult place now that Damiya has the ultimate authority (psh, Semiya? Useless). He, along with all of the other surviving Sezans, have basically been fired, though that isn’t stopping him and his buddy from investigating the attack that was made on the late queen. They’ve discovered that Erin’s observation of the lack of tohda brands was true, and all subsequent sleuthing has pointed towards one culprit: Damiya. Dun dun duuun! Good thing Ial’s on team Erin, eh?

As one could guess based on the decision to dismiss all of the past Sezans, Damiya is not exactly trusting of Ial and the others. But mostly just Ial. Damiya brings him into his chambers and, over a glass of wine, exposes pretty much all of his intentions to Ial: those of the aforementioned purity of the country, as well as his intent to use Erin to achieve it. The villain tendancy to expose your plans when you have the upperhand is always kind of odd, though I guess it’s kind of justified in this situation because Damiya has had Kilik poison Ial. As far as we know right now, the poison is still in Ial’s system, but will Kilik’s inevitable change of heart lead to him sharing the antidote with Ial? He’d better!

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 45: 8.5/10
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 46: 9/10

More Erin and Ial? Yes please~

Minnie: ExectutiveOtaku wrote a brilliant entry called Editorial: Defining Moments in Being a Fan on his top ten anime defining moments at THAT. The reason I love this idea is that everyone has their own top ten moments. No one can really argue this moment is the best moment or whatever because different scenes touch us differently. I’ve also written a post on this back at my own blog Hohiho, for any of those who are interested in reading the same thing twice. Joking~ Hopefully, the other members of my blog will follow suit and write more non-episodic entries as well. Hurray~

Steve: Minnie, your caption is too tsundere.

Minnie: Shut up and don’t invade my posts >__<

(more…)

Katt: I can’t stop cryiiiing! Well, okay, I’m fine now, but during pretty much this entire episode I could not hold back the waterworks. While almost all Kemono no Souja Erin episodes are emotionally charged, this one has got to be the winner up until now. My soul is hurting right now–that’s how intense this episode is! Erin, why must you break my heart? No amount of Miracle Train can lift my spirits after this. But an episode that has gotten me so sad obviously has to be blogged, no hesitation. So let’s walk through the major events and the moral choices that Erin has had to make (and that have consequently made me bawwwl).

First of all, I know I’ve neglected the past two episodes. There are a couple of major points, so I’ll just say them briefly before getting into more of my misery. Erin told the queen all about the Great Crime and managed to gain the queen’s sympathy; just when everything was looking like it would be alright, the head injury that Shin-Oh endured during the tohda attack catches up to her and causes her sudden death. This means that the young Semiya rises to the throne, and her easily-influenced nature leads to major manipulation on Damiya’s part. Shunan once again proposes a union between them, but the ignorant bitch Semiya will hear nothing of his logic because she blames him for her grandmother’s death. Shunan announces a date when Semiya must either agree to his proposal–or the military will genuinely turn against her and overthrow her by force.

Now onto more of my misery. While the episode starts off with more flashbacks to the aforementioned queen’s death, it doesn’t take long to get straight into the devastating drama: messengers from the new queen have been sent to bring Lilan and Erin back to Lazal where they can serve as protection against any future tohda attacks. Maybe if they had been slightly smart and waited for Erin’s arrival before going to Lilan, things would have been as okay as they could be in such a terrible situation–but they didn’t, and so Lilan gets defensive and enraged. Okay, fine, Lilan has growled a little before, but Erin is on the way so she’ll be able to calm Lilan down, right? No, and hence the first dramatic event…

One of the unique surrealistic violent scenes happens as Lilan attacks both of the beastlord keepers who have come to take her away. This scene was so effective in its shock value that I must have felt as lightheaded as Erin does while she watches her beloved beastlord companion turn violent once again. The whole scene becomes an emotion blur as Lilan leaves the men bloodied on the grass and Erin does the one thing she vowed she would never do:

Erin blowing the mute whistle was equally, if not more, shocking than Lilan’s violent outburst. The tears that rolled down Erin’s eyes as she did it made the scene one of the saddest of the series thus far, too. This was really the moment in the episode that broke my heart. Like, what would I do if my dog viciously attacked someone? What could I do? What a feeling of helplessness, the guilt of having to betray someone you love, human or not. Erin did the right thing in saving those men, but what a cost for her to pay.

This whole situation is a parallel to Soyon’s decision to raise the tohda the dictated way instead of the natural way. If we didn’t realize that on our own, it’s made clear in Erin’s dream sequence where she, as a child again, meets with her mother and spills her heart out about all of the things she hadn’t realized while Soyon was alive. Soyon never responds in the dream, but when Erin wakes up, her mentor Esal is there to comfort her just as well as a mother would. Erin makes the decision here to take the same path as her mother, even if she had so fervently objected to it in the past, because it is the only way that she will be able to continue on living with Lilan. She calls this the path of the Beast Healer–it isn’t magical like the title of Beast Player; it’s entirely based on a harsh reality in which she will suffer, and the beasts will suffer, but the people around them will be kept safe, which Erin has decided in this episode is the most imporant thing.

By the episode’s closing, we see some changes in Erin’s appearance, each extremely significant of the changes she has undergone from being the whimsical Beast Player to the broken Beast Healer.

The glove: to cover up the fingers that Lilan bit off in her fit of rage, a constant reminder of why she is following the tragic road she has chosen.

The mute whistle: always seen on other characters raising beasts, now showing how Erin has resolutely joined them in their ways.

The bracelet: once worn around her neck to symbolize that she’ll follow the path her mother wished that she could live instead of the path of the mute whistle, now on her wrist just as Soyon wore it when she reluctantly conformed.

This episode closes with a departure from Kazalm, so we have to tearfully say goodbye to Esal and Tomura (and other less endearing characters). Kilik is going along with Erin, undoubtedly by Damiya’s orders, and for some reason Nukku and Mokku are joining her too. And, of course, Lilan and her family will be there as well, but their relationship will never be the same as it once was. At Lazal, I expect we’ll be seeing more of Ial, Semiya, and Damiya. The next episode is also looking like we will be able to once again see the tohda breeding town that has disappeared since Erin’s departure from it. Only seven episodes left, and I don’t expect to be disappointed.

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 43: 10/10
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 44: 9/10

Katt: I want to keep myself from skipping blogging episodes of this series, especially for these last ten episodes (wah, the end is so close!), but at the same time I don’t really have time for in-depth entries all the time. So instead of looking at plot for this one–with the exception of the main plot point being that Erin realized the tohda who attacked the queen were not the grand duke’s–I want to reflect on something that’s been bothering me for a while. It’s nothing in regard to the plot, or even the characters really. It’s a question buried deep in my soul: should I be looking for pairings in this series?! I feel like I’m Minnie and wearing pairing-goggles, but I just can’t help it! Especially now that Erin is older, I just can’t ignore the fact that romance can happen. Don’t get me wrong; I do not not not want to see it become a focus, though I certainly won’t complain if there are more Erin-Ial moments like this episode was quite full of.

So okay, let’s flash back a bit. What’s the basis of my fondness for Ial/Erin? (There. I said it: I’m fond of it.) Their first meeting is not what I’d call ‘love at first sight’ considering that Erin was ten years old at the time. Ial, I’d guess, was in his early twenties at the oldest. A ten-year age difference, give or take a few years, is pretty significant, especially when you consider how young Erin was when the two first encountered. Nonetheless, because of the way that Erin and Ial’s occasional follow-up meetings happened, the age difference doesn’t seem all that awkward. There was no sense of the two growing up together, but instead only coming face-to-face once every few years and really realizing how much the other had grown–more Ial’s observation of Erin, of course. There isn’t that sense of the sibling-like relationship that can sometimes exist when two characters know each other from a younger age.

The way that the bond between Erin and Ial grows with each of their encounters only really hits home in episode 40, though in retrospect it’s endearing to see the ways they’ve helped each other out. Ial’s support and secrecy has been invaluable to Erin after the losses of her mother and John, as she works to help the beast-lords; if you think about it, aside from Nukku and Mokku, Ial is the character who has known Erin the longest. And then for Ial, his chance meetings with Erin have always been a way to restore his attachment to humanity. He’s been trained as emotionless, fixed on one goal, and yet with each time that he happens upon Erin or she happens upon him, he shows a growing interest in her and in her spirit, and goes through great lengths to help her and keep her safe.

With their bond building up and building up with each subsequent meeting that these two characters have, the strength of it is really driven home in this most recent episode. After dropping little hints into each other’s pasts for so long, Erin finally tells Ial her entire history. This level of trust is greater than Erin’s with anyone else. Yes, other characters might know bits and pieces, but not the entire story like this. She needs someone like this in her life, who can listen and be supportive in his silence, and who she can trust to not speak a word to anyone else. And Ial, he needs someone like Erin, who gives him words of encouragement as he struggles to come to terms with his failure to protect the queen.

It’s always upsetting to see these two part ways again, but at least I can always anxiously await the next meeting that will be sure to come. I worry a bit for Ial’s future, I have to admit…though this can’t be the last time that he and Erin see each other, right? I’ll be waiting for another moment, and…damn, I really do like this pairing, don’t I?! Wasn’t I, in my last entry, just laughing at people who found pairings in this series? Well, I still have to question the people who are completely invested in Erin and Ial getting together. That isn’t what I’m watching this series for, even if I find their ‘moments’ added perks. I’m here to continue watching Erin’s growth as she approaches the end of her journey.

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 40: 9.5/10
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 41: 8/10

Katt: Kemono no Souja Erin is still, no doubt, my favourite currently airing series. With the erratic subbing, I’d fall behind and then watch like four episodes at a time…but I’m all caught up now and–sigh–Crunchyroll has licensed the subs on this one. Thankfully, Static-Subs is continuing last I heard, though because CR’s subs will be out faster I will probably just watch them even though they aren’t as good. Life’s complicated. The point of all of this, though, is that I want to make a better effort to blog KnSE regularly! It deserves it.

Katt’s thoughts on what has happened since episode 30:

Some characters shift to the background while others are introduced and gain importance. Erin is consistently my favourite, of course, because she is still totally my hero. I have a lot of love for the boys Tomura and Ial, too–Tomura, I can’t for the life of me explain why because he isn’t all that important, but his presence always makes me smile. Then there’s Ial who proves himself to be both a really competant character and nice guy time and again. (I noticed that some commenters on recent episodes want Erin to hook up with Ial, hahaha!) Esal also gets a lot of points from me because she is really living up to her John-replacement status as Erin’s mentor.

And then there are the new guys. Namely, Kirik and Shiron. A lot of people foresaw that the new teacher would be a bad guy, and it’s still a little vague, but they are most likely right. From what I’ve gathered he has some kind of tie with the Saigamul, as well as with Damiya. Is this a sign that he is playing both sides, or is it Damiya who is the ultimate traitor to the queen? The new student is a more lighthearted character introduction. She has a rather frustrating I-have-to-be-the-best attitude when she’s introduced, but through just a bit of time observing Erin, she grows a lot. I just kind of dislike her motives for going to Kazalm; yes, prove yourself–but does she even care about the beast-lords? If she doesn’t now, she had better grow to care for them! (I’m kind of doubtful that she’ll have much significance beyond episode 37, though.)

The encounter that Erin has with Nason–a.k.a. the Mist man who was supposedly engaged to Soyon–gives us a long-awaited explanation for Soyon’s final action when she controlled the tohdas. Apparently there was a peoples who had the power to bond and communicate with beasts, specifically beast-lords, though they overused their powers, which led to a slaughter of tohdas and people. Because of this, the Beast-Lord Imperatives were put in place to avoid such an incident again. Erin, of course, had no idea of such a tale and so was breaking the rules without understanding the severity of the consequences that could possibly arise. Upon learning of the ‘Great Crime’, however, she doesn’t change her ways. She continues onwards to test how far her bond with Lilan can go…

So after Lilan learns to fly, Erin learns how to tame that skill in the way that people ride horses. She goes even further than that, using her harp to soothe a wild beast-lord that arrives at Kazalm, proving her ability to connect with beast-lords even stronger than she thought imaginable. The wild beast-lord and Lilan hit it off, if you get what I’m sayin’, and in due time Lilan gives birth to a baby, which Erin manages to help deliver when the birthing process is complicated. With each new feat she manages, Erin amazes everyone around her, but also tests Nason’s warning that she must stop communicating with beasts immediately.

The last thing that I really should touch upon are the political matters. I am pretty bad at this stuff, but I’ll give the bit of background that really has to be known before I jump into episode 39…..’kay so the royal family is messed uuuup. With the grand duke bed-ridden, his power is out of his hands and really left to Shunan who doesn’t seem to have all that much control on things. Saigamul plots seem to be more and more of a threat, such as a poisoning attempt that was made on Semiya, and we as viewers are left to wonder about Damiya’s stance in this whole state of affairs. I’ve already brought up questions surrounding Kirik, a character we suspect of being a Saigamul, and there are just about as many doubts surrounding Damiya…and then some.

And as a final note before I move on, the queen has become more of a genuine character in this series as opposed to just an elusive figure. She has a very naive personality because of being cooped up in the castle all of her life, so with her venturing out to see the newborn beast-lord, there is bound to be trouble. Her heart is in the right place, I am sure, especially when she mentions her dislike of the mute whistles. It’s implied that she doesn’t really know the roots of things like the Beast-Lord Imperatives or just how strong the division of the court and the military is.

Onto episode 39…

While I should be placing more importance on blogging new series like Fairy Tail, I couldn’t wait another episode before writing up a Kemono no Souja Erin post. I knew that that would be the case as soon as I saw the preview at the end of episode 38. This episode…it’s a dramatic one with a feeling of helplessness that hasn’t been felt since Soyon’s execution. Erin’s personal battles, the political struggle, and the history of the ‘Great Crime’ all converge and cause an incident that I can’t neglect blogging. I am going to do my best to make sense of it all.

This entire situation comes about because of the conflict that is seemingly between supporters of the queen and supporters of the grand duke. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that the grand duke and his sons (though Nugan is a little questionable) have no influence on the attempts on the queen’s life. In this case, it is made blatantly obvious that Damiya is ultimately the one trying to have the queen assassinated, though why is still a mystery. He seems to have an odd idealization of the first queen, who had control of the beast-lords, as Erin does now. When characters refer to ‘those who would use Erin for her powers’, they are inadvertently saying, “Don’t let Damiya see!!”

When Erin, the other teachers, and the students happen to see the tohda attack on the Royal Yacht, they are all in shock. No one can doubt that Erin has the most emotional reaction to this situation thanks to its similarities to her mother being surrounded by tohdas before her execution, a long eight years earlier. Nonetheless, it is Erin who reacts quickest and resolves to use Lilan to drive the tohdas away. The person to try to stop her? The mysterious Kirik, who at first comes off as a good guy by telling Erin to stop for her own sake, so that no one finds out about her communication with the beast-lords–but when we get a snippet of inner monologue, we learn that Kirik is actually in on this assassination plan. Right now, his loyalty lies strongest with Damiya, though I wonder if he is a character who will be able to be swayed to good in the future.

Erin’s plan backfires horribly when the ‘Great Crime’ repeats itself on a smaller scale, with Lilan becoming blood-crazed and massacring the tohda despite Erin’s cries that she stop. The feelings of helplessness in this scene are so powerful…Erin can only hold on tightly and let Lilan kill them all, the students and teachers can do nothing but gape, and even the usually-influential Ial is left powerless. Worst of all, Damiya wakes up just as Lilan finishes her tohda-killing spree and witnesses the end, immediately likening it to the stories he has heard of the country’s founding. He will want to use Erin’s “control” over the beast-lords even more than he already has, and I dread to find out in what ways.

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 39: 10/10
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 40: 8/10

The aftermath of the tragedy (?) and some interaction between Ial and Erin. It should be good, as every episode is, though nothing special. Not after an episode like this one.